Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb Pedal Reviews

4.7/5.0 based on 7 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Chris McCown

For all the sounds available in the RV-5, you'd think you were playing through something a lot more expensive, and a lot bigger than a stompbox. From subtle ambience through complete and total washout, you can achieve it with this pedal. I have owned amp heads that did not have a reverb circuit in which I used the RV-5, as well as using it INSTEAD of the reverb circuit on amps that had it.

Sort By Date Sort By Rating

Customer Reviews

eelcloud
from Oakland, CA
December 14, 2012Music Background:
the past

Another Winner from BOSS!

I don't usually write ratings for any equipment less than 4 or 5 stars.It's just not worth my time to mess 'round with sub-par equipment. For this reason, I've always LOVED BOSS PEDALS! Superb sound, this one in particular sounds like it costs mucho more than it does. Seriously-spend some time crafting sounds with this and I almost guarantee you'll be surprised at the GREAT tone. Hard to say any more about that.

J.C. AmericanDeluxeStrat
from Tazewell,TN
March 8, 2011Music Background:
21 Year Musician

I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CAN SELL THIS PEDAL THAT CHEAP

The Boss RV-5 is probably the Best pedal BOSS ever built. I have 1 of these pedals on each of my pedalboards ( Acoustic and lead pedalboards) great reverb sounds . even sounds good on a keyboard.... Not really much else to say this pedal is a must buy.

Khawaja Jodat
from 61 M , Gulberg III, Lahore, Pakistan
April 7, 2007Music Background:
I have been playing for the last 27 years, Am a chemical engineer and a Hobbyist guitarist.

Incredible & hard to believe Reverb pedal from Boss.

I purchased it last year. I did not have a plan to buy it and rather it was all my sheer luck that I got this incredible sounding stuff. It all happened in a way that I had something to exchange in the music store and luckly I saw this pedal in the showcase. So I decided to exchange my disapproved item with Boss digital reverb pedal. I found it just an amazing sounding beast and you better have to believe it. The reverb sounds produced by it are so interesting, natural and full bodied that I at once fell in love with it. All the five reverb settings are very useful and have immense depth/richness and beautiful decaying sustain property. The reverb sound is very neat and I have not noticed any back ground noise at all furthermore the control knobs proportionaly works extremely well. After using this reverb unit I have simply ignored using my amplifiers reverb as they seems toyish as far as sound quality is concerned as compared with Boss digital reverb. One can very easily shape any reverb sound from it by using few and simple knobs adjustments. It is true that now I have stopped fearing to jump on stage as I did while using my amp spring reverb which sound horrible and now feel more confident after adopting this beauty. The overall quality and ease of use is remarkable for this unit. The modulate reverb setting is just like something out of this world so pleasant to listen while playing slow phrases. No doubt that its price is quite high but once you hear it you will spontenously say Oh I do not care how much I paid for it. Boss products are extremely reliable from this fact that I have been using Boss pedals since 1983 and they never turned me down, rather I must add that they are build for life time. Thanks & regards.

Phil
from Conway, SC USA
October 13, 2006Music Background:
Student / Hobbyist

Favorite Pedal

I tried several reverbs out before choosing this one. Many of the others sounded just as good as this one and in a few cases a little better. What makes this pedal stand out and better than the others is the fact that you can choose between 6 different types of reverb and they all sound great. They are all useable and high quality. This is a great pedal.

from
May 2, 2013

Solid

I believe my search for a compact reverb unit has ended with the RV5. I own a Strymon Bluesky and took home both a TC Electronic Hall of Fame and EHX Cathedral before landing on this pedal.

While the pedal certainly isn't perfect, it's proven itself to be better sounding and far more usable for my application that either the TC or EHX. The Bluesky remains the best reverb pedal I've heard, but I use it primarily for electric/shoegaze type stuff, while the RV5 is typically employed for my acoustic or occasionally in my amp's effects loop.

There are certainly some drawbacks to this pedal, and I can see how they might be dealbreakers for other players. For one, Boss's claim of rackmount quality in a stompbox is certainly a stretch. To anyone who knows reverb, this is going to sound like a digital emulation (but really that's true of just about every reverb stombox you can name). You just don't get rackmount processor quality without paying for one. However, this pedal is far less digital sounding to my ears than any of the other pedals I tried.

Secondly, I think many pedals, including the RV5, go a little overboard with their spring tank emulations. On one hand, it's a cool effect because you can actually hear the "springs rattle" when you hit your guitar a little harder. But I own 3 amps with spring tanks, and none of them rattle nearly as much as the pedal unless you really turn up the reverb and really lay into the strings.

Finally, as with all the Boss pedals I've used, the tone suck factor is noticeable when the pedal is bypassed. You really have to be conscious of where this falls in your chain, particularly if you're using a lot of other buffered pedals or running other sources like microphones.

But even with all of that, this pedal still wins the small stompbox reverb competition by a long shot in my opinion. While it lacks some of the really detail oriented controls like pre-delay, the sounds are still well designed, complex, and as genuine sounding as you're going to find at this price point. It's very usable in a live situation, versatile, and very moderately priced. The number of pros who use it is certainly a testament to its quality, and I am very happy with the results I'm getting. It's got all the staples you'd expect from a reverb and does them quite well, as well as a couple more "out there" emulations that afford a little more creativity. I think this is a great middle of the road pedal with something almost every player will enjoy.

Ben
from
September 12, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician

Buy it already!

The modulated reverb is worth the price of this pedal by itself. For some reason, Boss struck gold for once. I think if this pedal said anything other than "BOSS" on it, it would sell for double the price and people would call it one of the best reverbs on the market (which it totally it is if you know how to use it). Especially when used in stereo, the modulated reverb is smooth, lucious, and adds serious dimension to your sound. The three controls work perfectly to let you get the sound to sit right and do exactly what you want it to do.

For me, I use the modulated reverb about 95% of the time, and occasionally use the room (which can work for a very certain range of sounds), and occasionally use the gated reverb. The gated reveb is pretty cool when used right, albeit not an effect that is frequently called for. The other reverbs might be usable, but I never use them. The spring reverb is a bit campy, and not necessarily a good emulation, but don't buy this pedal if you want spring reverb. In fact, buy this pedal for the modulated reverb, and use the other stuff if it ever happens to sound good for what you're doing.

All in all, if you want a beautful reverb at the end of your chain to add some serious depth to your sound, this is the right pedal. Other people will pay way more for a Strymon pedal that isn't much better than this in the sound department. Close your eyes and listen....don't be fooled by brands or price. This is the only BOSS pedal I own.

Lindsay Kane Syner
from WV
October 12, 2011Music Background:
Studio guitar player

Boss RV-5

Good reverb but the spring reverb setting I don't like because when you hit a fast chord and stop fast you here a boing sound that I don't like at all. The hall setting is really nice.